Do you Have Any...?

 Do you Have Any...?

A study of Phillipians

Phil. 2:1-11  (part 1)

Have you gone into a store to get something, and you ask the clerk, do you have any…?  We all have asked the question, do you have any...? Paul has spoken to the church in Philippi about thankfulness and prayer, and the importance of the advancement of the Gospel. Now, Paul is reaching out to the believers in Philippi with this question, Do you have any...? Encouragement? Comfort? Fellowship? Tenderness and Compassion? 

Sometimes in our lives we go to the world’s shelf of life, and find that we don’t have what is needed to live the kind of life Christ desires. Let’s look at the text. “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. When we go to the world’s shelf of life, we can find discouragement in abundance. It is packaged in many colors, shapes, and sizes. What we need everyday is only found in Christ: encouragement, especially from brothers and sisters in Christ. “if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ.” Paul knew the importance of encouragement, in Heb.10:24-25 He said, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Application - It’s being stated over and over, we are nearing the time of Jesus’ coming. But while we are here, we must encourage each other in strengthening faith, Rom. 1:11-12 "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.""Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1Thes. 5:11 

Oh, what joy when the body is united in faith, praise,and service to our Lord. Each of us can testify in this pandemic about the times of discouragement from all the present troubles (lost jobs, illness, weariness of the media, doubt, loneliness, and for some poverty). I want to encourage each of you, God is for us (Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you). He will never leave us (And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Matt.28:20). He has given us each other to assist and build each other up in the faith. If there was ever a time for the church, the body of Christ, to be of one heart and mind, it is now!

Next, Paul knew the blessing of the comfort in love he received through the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ. “if any comfort from his love.” It was while he was in prison, He and Silas were praying, and singing psalms and hymns to comfort one another (Acts 16:25-34). He knew the church in Philippi would need the comfort of the Holy Spirit and one another in the faith after his arrest and imprisonment. And what comfort they received when Paul and Silas came out of prison miraculously, with new believers from the prison and their families.

Application - We need comfort from the love of Christ, when we have a loss, whether in family, job, or friendship. We need Jesus! He has given us the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, to bring comfort to our lives “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Psalm 94:19

“For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

Next, Paul asks if there was any Fellowship “if any common sharing in the Spirit.” Paul understood the need for fellowship. He desired to be with the believers in the prayer meeting by the river, or in the homes. He craved the testimonies of the believers who were blessed by God.

What joy it must have been to hear of Paul’s release from prison, and the miraculous deliverance by earthquake. God does work in mysterious ways. 

Application - Can you imagine the fellowship we will have in Heaven with Paul? With all the others who prayed for us, who did life with us. Today, we should have daily fellowship with one another, especially in the end times events we are experiencing. We all need to lean on Jesus and his word. The old Hymn, Leaning on the Everlasting arms, “What a fellowship, what a joy divine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness, what a peace is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms.” 

We need to live life in the Spirit, like in Acts 4:31-33 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.” 

What if we got back to testifying of God's grace and blessings, sharing in the commonness (equality, fellowship) we have in Christ Jesus, and watch our fellowship meeting explode with the power of the Holy Spirit infilling our lives? Andrew Murray stated true fellowship is “the bond of union and likeness between Him (Jesus) and his followers.” Too many times, we come together just to receive for ourselves, and never truly get what God desires to give us the bond between Him and us his followers.

Next, Paul  asks if we have any “tenderness and compassion”. In Paul’s world, tenderness was not something that he experienced in prison. The whip, the stocks, and the chains were reminders of oppression. While in chains, Paul’s thoughts were about the state of the church in Philippi. The enemy has a plan and purpose to kill, steal, and destroy, his purpose is to oppress and depress. Paul knew God’s plan was tenderness and compassion, especially for those who are being brought out of bondage. Paul’s words to the jailer after the earthquake that freed him and Silas were words of tenderness and compassion.  “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.” 

Application - When we are speaking the words to  fellow believers and the lost, they must use words seasoned with tenderness and compassion. The old proverbs “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Prov.15:1 means that it is much easier to get what you want by being polite rather than by being rude and insolent. We sometimes let the effects of the world cause us to lash out at others in many ways that are not tender and compassionate, especially those that are near to us. The acts of tenderness and compassion will open the heart of those around us to the gospel, and that is also the heart of God. A Glen Cambell song comes to mind “Try a little Kindness” 

“If you see your brother standing by the road

With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed

And if you see your sister falling by the way

Just stop and say, "You're going the wrong way"

You've got to try a little kindness

Yes, show a little kindness

Just shine your light for everyone to see

And if you try a little kindness

Then you'll overlook the blindness

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

Don't walk around the down and out

Lend a helping hand instead of doubt

And the kindness that you show every day

Will help someone along their way

You got to try a little kindness

Yes, show a little kindness

Just shine your light for everyone to see

And if you try a little kindness

Then you'll overlook the blindness

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.

 Let this be our attitude and mindset in tenderness and compassion.

Last, Paul sums up what he desires for the body of believers in Philippi. “then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Paul knew that for this young Church to grow into maturity, it needed the like mindedness of Christ. Paul’s joy came from the Lord, and he wanted this for the believers. Joy is an interesting word, it is far more than happy. Happy is like a vapor compared to the fullness of joy. Paul continues to admonish the church to not be selfish and self-centered, self- ambitious and vainly conceited. 

Application - This reminds me of too many Christmases in America. We are drawn into the world of selfishness. “I want, I want, I want.” It even bleeds into the church of today, “I want this, or that, or it should be done this way, my way.” Imagine if we took the words of Paul to heart, and we thought of others before we thought of ourselves, to value the brothers and sisters in Christ, to see the lost as our priority not a side-note to our egocentric lives. If we were to give a gift to someone this Christmas, the best gift would be to lift them up, encourage them, consider them before ourselves, as Jesus said in Matt. 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor.” It all comes back to fulfilling Christ’s command, “ Love one another as I have loved you, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Again, I would like for you to share the hope that we have in Christ Jesus with the Good News, the ABC’s of the gospel. (JD Farag)

A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

I would like to pray that we all have a Merry Christmas, remember Jesus is the reason for Christmas.

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis